A Theory of Expanded Love

by Caitlin Hicks

Trapped in her enormous, devout Catholic family in 1963, Annie creates a hilarious campaign of lies when the pope dies and their family friend, Cardinal Stefanucci, is unexpectedly on the short list to be elected the first American pope. Driven to elevate her family to the holiest of holy rollers in the parish, Annie is tortured by her own dishonesty. But when "The Hands" visit her in her bed and when her sister finds herself facing a scandal, Annie discovers her parents will do almost anything to
uphold their reputation and keep their secrets safe. Questioning all she has believed and torn between her own gut instinct and years of Catholic guilt, Annie takes courageous risks to wrest salvation from the tragic sequence of events set in motion by her parents’ betrayal.

Genres: Fiction, Womens Fiction

366 pages, Paperback

First published June 12, 2015

About the author

My life and work have been profoundly affected by the central circumstance of my existence: I was born into a very large military Catholic family in the United States of America. As a child surrounded by many others, I wrote, performed and directed family plays with my numerous brothers and sisters.

I graduated Cum Laude with a double major in French and English (with a writing emphasis) from Loyola Marymount University of Los Angeles. Here, I wrote weekly columns (Fine & Fancy Ramble) as Feature Editor of the Los Angeles Loyolan. My first job out of school was a writer of Camp Fund stories at the LA Times, published every day that summer. In this series, I recapped stories of poor children who wanted to go to summer camp (I never got to go myself!) .. . my brothers and sisters were on the lookout every day for the articles written by me because I used the names of all my siblings in the series.

In radio in San Francisco @ CBS & NBC, as Mgr/Adv & Promotion @ KYUU-FM. At 26, I dropped out of the corp world to become an actress. At that time, I met my soul mate in an Improvi class -- an accomplished Canadian artist, Gordon Halloran.

In Toronto, I began writing for the theatre when Tarragon Theatre invited me to be a member of the Playwrights Unit there. My first play" Six Palm Trees", co-written with Gordon Halloran, came out of that effort.

As a playwright & performer I toured with partner Gord Halloran, in Canada and internationally to standing ovations & excellent reviews. One of my plays was adapted to a feature film: "Singing the Bones" (www.fatsalmon.ca). While Gord worked as dramaturge and director to my theatre work, I have promoted his work as an artist ever since I met him. (www.gordonhalloran.com)

My first novel, A THEORY OF EXPANDED LOVE was published by Light Messages ( US), and received many awards & enthusiastic 5 star reviews. 2nd novel KENNEDY GIRL a stand-alone in the same world, looking 4 publisher.

My podcast, SOME KINDA WOMAN, Stories of Us entertains with the voices of many women characters I have embodied in my touring productions.
https://www.caitlinhicks.com/wordpres...

My path as a writer has always been a personal spiritual journey, although my work is not religious. I am drawn towards stories that I don't hear often in the mainstream. I enjoy bringing to life personal, pivotal stories which have the kernel of transformation and which connect us all to each other.

My writing has been broadcast on CBC National & regional radio. Print work published in: SF Chronicle, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Fiddlehead Magazine, LA Times, Vancouver Sun, Herizons Magazine and more.

Currently I write book reviews for the New York Journal of Books, a lovely way to read, read, read! https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/sear...

Reviews

[Judy Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A special thank you to Light Messages for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Hang on guys, this may be my longest review in history.

iBooks picks THEORY as BEST NEW FICTION Read Dear Pope Letter.

A W E S O M E "Hilarious and Moving" A Hit!

Caitlin Hicks, author, international playwright, and acclaimed performer in British Columbia, plus a long line of credentials, delivers an extraordinary coming-of-age debut novel, A THEORY OF EXPANDED LOVE.

Readers hear from feisty twelve-year-old narrator, an inquisitive young girl, Annie wise beyond her years, trying to figure out this thing we call "LIFE". She questions and addresses everything from family, parenting, religion, hypocrisy, authority, politics, justice, morals, sin--and all life throws her way, in the turbulent sixties - with candor and humor!

Annie Shea was born to a Catholic military family of thirteen to the same two parents, in an old house, and lived across the street from a ritzy Protestant girls’ school in Pasadena. She called her family “Holly Rollers” in an obviously secular society; good, patriotic Catholics who found parking spaces by praying to St. Anthony, who could recite the old Latin Mass by heart, and dutifully learned the modern English version word for word after the Second Vatican Council. Being the second to the largest family in the parish was not enough, they were the only family in the whole school who fought communism every night by praying the rosary.

It is 1963, the Kennedy Assassination, (6th grade for me, so approx same age); birth control, equal pay, prayer in schools, nuclear bombs, MLK, KKK, Civil Rights, segregation, Beach Boys, Seventeen Magazine, Ed Sullivan Show, Jackie’s pillbox hats, Ford Falcon (our wedding getaway car in the early seventies; divorced after 15 yrs.), two-piece bathing suits, a new pope election, guardian angels, secrets, lies, and getting spanked at age 12-13- devastation.

From secrets, desires, fears, a diary, to changes in her body, which can be disgusting and must be punishment from God (agree), breasts, periods, shaving, (hilarious), questioning life, birth process-- she prays for guidance in this unsure world of sin as she uses her (laugh out loud) prayer book/diary entries to speak to the higher authorities of her daily problems. Had her mom lied, what happened to her first husband and her baby? Is it ok for parents to lie? Do they get a pass?

“Annie hoped the Blessed Mother would come to rescue her. She was counting on it. She had a special mission in life; to intervene on our behalf, to whisper things into God’s ear that would put us into His special favor or remind Him to show a little mercy. God being so perfect, and capital “G” was somehow excused for doing dramatic and frightening things only He could be responsible for-- like wars, disease, tidal waves, earthquakes, and having Africans boil little children alive just to prove their loyalty to Him.

It was easy to see how even God Almighty could get carried away with all that raw power. Clearly He needed someone to hold Him back, so as a practical consideration, He created the gentler Blessed Mother. And we prayed to her just in case we ever found ourselves surrounded by pygmies.”

What really bugs Annie is why babies are left to cry themselves to sleep and why no one cares some boy is slipping in her room at night, trying to fondle her, feeling her up. And why her mom does not take a stand against her dad about her sister, having a baby. No one in the family is supporting her sister. Hello God?

Dear Blessed Mother, “Here’s the question. Where have you been? I am under siege here. I have found out who has been coming in my room and feeling me up. He actually got out of it! If he comes back, I’ll bite his hands off.”

The next day

Dear Blessed Mother. “So I guess you’ve decided not to get involved.”

“Why are adults so worried about two-piece bathing suits, mortal sins, and temptation, slumber parties, and a sister getting pregnant and putting her private parts together with a boy and sent off to live with nuns, to work while they try and take away her baby; when there is so much hypocrisy in the church and in her own family life?”

What about God, allowing the President to die? What if President Kennedy’s death is punishment for her sins? She had to do something about her sister, Clara. Where was God and the Blessed Mother? Why would her parents force her sister to give up her baby? The nuns would steal it when she gave birth, like they always do when the girl is not married. After all her mom has thirteen, what is one more?

“Why do people say lying is a sin? It is hard to realize how much lying goes on, and not sure why it’s a sin if everyone does it.”

“So birth is probably something that’s not super complicated, when you have those two factors lined up—desperation and willingness—because a lot of people have gotten through it. In order for us to be here, millions of years later.“

Dear God the Father. "Who’s left up there? I can’t seem to reach anyone. I need some help here, but I think Jesus and Mary might have gone on vacation."

Like her dad thinks he is right about everything. He likes talking religion and politics but she has never heard him apologize to a mortal. He continues to repeat his prayers every day, and to her dad “Thou shalt not kill” means if you murder someone you will be doomed to eternal damnation and hellfire (unless you say you’re sorry before the last second of your life; however, war is Ok if you are on the right side -not the Communist side). Lots of things bug her about her dad, and she is furious over the baby thing. Suppose it had been her instead?

“Remember me? Oh it’s been a while but I’ve decided to write you again directly. There’s nothing wrong with Jesus and Mary, but it’s pretty hard second-guessing them all the time.

I’ve come to the conclusion that we have to work things out ourselves and there’s no point to thinking I have a direct line to God, or to the Blessed Mary, any more than anyone else does. I’m just one person in a big family and it’s no different in the world. It’s an enormous place with millions of people. everyone clamoring for something or other.”

A THEORY OF EXPANDED LOVE, is AMAZING, and have never laughed so hard. Judy Blume, Lena Dunham, and Jennifer Weiner move over!

A note to Caitlin Hicks, Elizabeth Turnbull, and the team at Light Messages "you gals know how to crank out some winners!"

I have put off writing this review closer to pub date on purpose, as was torn with how to write the review. My apologies for using so many of your quotes, Caitlin, and Annie’s prayers. They are all awesome, so do not worry readers, there are many more included not shown here, at the beginning of almost every chapter. The mistakes are all mine if I missed something.

How do you describe an insightful and entertaining book of this nature, without giving away a little of its charm? I do not want this gem to be overlooked, deserving to be read by millions. The credit goes to the author who has a special gift, a rare talent, and speaks from the heart. Thank you for this fabulous story, it made my day- and brought back those memorable (some not so much) days as a young girl --with the burden of life on her shoulder, in a trying time.

I felt this could almost be my own story (with the exception, strict Southern Baptist-not Catholic), which is about as bad or worse, with the hypocrisy and pressure as you move from being a child, an adolescent, teen to an adult-- and sometimes the experience is not all it is cracked up to be. Life as a twelve- year-old girl is definitely overrated. It is tough, as why I prayed for boys. "Dear God, you must have been listening. Thank you for two boys, and three step sons. One grandson. However, you did test me by throwing in a diva granddaughter.(now 8 going on 20)

If you grew up in the sixties, you are going to love this one. A Hit. If not, you will love Annie, (my hero). She is astute, and speaks her mind. Keeping you entertained for hours with her insights, wisdom, wit, and charm.

Judys personal side note Let’s re-visit the spanking topic (especially at school in the sixties-home, as well). Funny story

I recall the days you got 15-20 licks with a big paddle with holes (no less-to increase the sting), at school for talking in class. I seemed to do this often. Forced to bend over and put your hands on a chair in front of the class (that is your behind facing the class). I spent hours awake the previous night, planning-trying to figure out how many pairs of shorts and padding I could use under my dress. On the day I am to receive my punishment, I would wear my yellow long waist heavy wool jumper, (this of course happened more than once) with the box pleats, so as to cushion the blow. That is, until my grandmother puts my jumper in the wash and it shrank to the size of a miniature doll dress (no more yellow paddle jumper).

Wow, think about it--the authorities would have the teacher, and the school locked up in today’s world, a law suit waiting to happen. At home, they would have the parents turned over to social services.

Boy we had it rough in the sixties and seventies; however, guess not as bad as our parents who had to walk 20 miles to school in the snow, or so they say? Plus milk the cows, etc. etc. blah, blah.....Let’s not forget about the white go-go boots of the sixties, and the patterned hose/sock which matched our shirts. Too good.

BUY IT. June 12!
You can thank me later, readers for the heads up.

JDCMustReadBooks

[P.J. Reece · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hicks takes the reader into the special world of a devout California Catholic family. But wait! Don't go! This novel is driven by the first-person narrator known as Annie, a sassy and smart 12 year-old upon whose flat chest (she’s the one complaining about it!) you want to pin a medal for being so damned perceptive and belligerent and especially for deploying so many crack Saxon verbs that make you sit up and say, Whoa!—this chick is going to cut through life’s smog and get noticed, if her father doesn’t smack her senseless, which he tries to do, but to him I say, Good luck. Wow, having just finished the book, I feel like I better understand about a billion more people on earth.

Hicks has created a story rife with domestic tension, and although not all the promises of disaster pay off, there are myriad that do. Hicks brings us real life, and by that I mean the human condition, and by that I mean characters struggling to be free. Problem is, each character is on a different trajectory to find this freedom, and if that doesn’t make for good drama, I don’t know what does.

Hicks sets her story in the era of the Pope John’s death and the Kennedy Assassination. We all know what we were doing then and what we felt like and how innocent we were, and how deluded and naïve we were, and helpless and rebellious and fed up with authority, which pretty much puts us in Annie’s skin. So, is this a young adult novel? It deserves to sell well as YA or adult fiction. Any book with a protagonist whose antics are seared into a reader’s memory is going to be enjoyed by many.

I give Theory of Expanded Love four stars out of five, which is high praise from a reader who only gives five stars to Virginia Woolf. Do yourself a favour and buy this book.

[Gord Smedley · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the betrayals -- the tiny and the monstrous – that define the coming-of-age narrative have come together in Caitlin Hicks' latest work, “A Theory of Expanding Love.”

I took on this review as I take on many projects – an impulsive response that the next morning seemed more chore than delight, but five pages into the story I was enraptured. “Yes, I will drink this Koolaid. I will love its crisp, dewy sadness, and be the better for it.”

Hicks distills God, love, politics and family to their essence through the eyes and ears of Annie, the insouciant centrepiece of an early 60s fleet of Catholic navy brats. Yes, I'm a middle-aged, male atheist, but Hicks made me feel for a time that, “Je suis Annie.”

To be clear, Expanded Love is not a Young Adult novel. Its narrator might be twelve, but the doubts and pain and resolutions Hicks explores through Annie's voice speak carefully, fluently and deeply to those of us all.

You will read this book. If not now, you'll be tempted next year by the awards it garners; if not then, its movie adaptation will finally woo you in 2017.

[Laurie Mcconnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Theory of Expanded Love, Caitlin Hicks

I’ve postponed writing this review a number of times, wanting to wait until I had a solid window of time with which to do it justice. Hence, weeks have passed since I read it all in one delighted go, and I've decided my dallying means I’m keeping others from discovering a gem of a read.

The book’s protagonist, Annie Shea, was ready-made-to-love for me, sharing many of the characteristics of other Annes and Annies in my life, primarily a headstrong and irreverent attitude I find utterly exasperating and captivating at the same time.

From the first paragraph, the tone was set:

“June 3 - Dear Diary, Before dinner, we said Eternal Rest for Pope John XXIII. A plane crashed off the coast near Alaska, and 101 passengers bit the dust. All those people got to see the Pope at heaven’s gate. I hope some of them were Catholic, so they could get in.”

A Theory of Expanded Love is a rambling and conversational look at an Irish-Catholic family, the Sheas, set square in the middle of the 60s. Annie, our narrator, is a sweetly skeptical observer whose mind relentlessly catches on the hypocrisies and oddities of life in a religious household and within the greater Church.

The book reads like an epic swashbuckling adventure in suburbia. A family connection to a local Cardinal shortlisted to become pope is to Annie as John Lennon is to her peers; a rock star among ‘Fathers’, lending splendidly to name-dropping and grandeur-by-association that begins harmlessly enough as Annie schemes to raise her standing among 12 siblings and a pious peer group inclined to exclude her.

(In our family it was the great uncle who was Archbishop of western Canada, and a Jesuit uncle who barely spoke but taught advanced rocket physics in university aeries in Bhutan and Uganda and occasionally flew home for sabbaticals every 7 years to ride the Corkscrew roller coaster 9 times at Expo 86, or go to see Star Wars in the theatre near the seminary in Toronto - 14 times over.)

Of course, in every catholic household of memory in my world, dark secrets swirl and eddy between sanctimonious and self-flagellating visits to confession. Annie’s family is no different, and this is where the tension in the story emerges, when Annie’s juvenile fame-by-association contortions bump up against growing guilt and awareness of ethics & morals existing outside of the church.

Annie becomes aware of an undercurrent of a more malevolent hypocrisy within her own family and is forced to encounter herself in relation to the traditions and strictures in which she has grown up, and must make a choice: what kind of person she will be and the kind of life she will inhabit.

Her unique take on the world, her impudence and fearlessness, her eccentricities conspire to create an unforgettable heroine I still miss more than a month after reading the book.

So here’s hoping for a series with our heroine - I would love to know how she matures as a woman in the 70s and 80s and would delight in her profane insights into the catholic church within her family and the outside world. Well done!

[Elizabeth Hein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twelve year old Annie’s life is dominated by her Catholicism. She is number six of thirteen children and obsessed with how the election of the next pope could push her family into the spot of ‘best Catholic family’ in the parish. She even toys with the idea of becoming a nun to help their candidate gain favor. In this coming of age story, we peek into what it truly means to be part of a big family filled with people all struggling to do the right thing. At this pivotal time in Annie’s young life, she identifies herself in relationship to a patriarchy, be it the Catholic Church or the house ruled by her iron-fisted, ex-Navy father.

Set against the world events of 1963, A Theory of Expanded Love is the story of how Annie finds the strength to defy the patriarchy that defines her life and follow her own moral compass. Although she seemed caught up in the rules and outer trappings of her Catholicism, she’d been listening during Mass. When someone she loves needs her, she acts on her convictions with compassion and love.

Caitlin Hicks captures the inner workings of a twelve-year-old’s mind with empathy and humor. Annie is learning about the world, yet still has many questions about how the world of adults works. She is at the age where she is beginning to see her parents as fallible individuals that deserve forgiveness for their mistakes. Annie is wise beyond her years yet retains a child’s sense of optimism.

[Lolly de Jonge, PhD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Caitlin Hicks’ premiere novel is exquisite, spellbinding and lyrical. The story is compelling, with Hicks masterfully putting the reader right into the scene. It was hard to put down.

The main character, Annie Shea, is endearing and relatable in many ways not just because of her teenage angst. More importantly, in a most exquisite way, Hicks takes us through Annie’s journey which is the same one that many of us take when we are coming of age or transitioning through any important milestone in life. Annie’s quest for the Truth, grappling with secrets, and persistence in claiming her voice and using it all remind us of common struggles that we face as humans. We then get to experience Annie surmounting these challenges when her focus rises beyond herself to come to terms with her inner demons and to serve others. In this, we are reminded about the importance of loyalty, compassion and commitment to those who are most important to us.

The themes in A Theory of Expanded Love are universal and the story is captivating. I laughed out loud. I cried. My heart was warmed. My life was changed. I recommend A Theory of Expanded Love without hesitation or reservation. It’s an inspiring must-read and I’m excited to see where this takes Caitlin Hicks.

[Aggie Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've enjoyed reading several revisions of this book. To me, the story itself has always been fascinating and well written. But now another dimension has been added; it feels lighter now; there's something too about the structure of the story unfolding that feels more compelling. It hooks and holds.

That's saying a lot, isn't it? I have read it how many times now? I hate to use a cliche here but there's no other word for it: a page turner. A charming, funny, lovely page turner.

And the cover could not be more beautiful. Or more joyful. This book is going to jump off the shelves.

[Deborah Hining · Rating 5 out of 5]

Caitlin Hicks has turned out a delicately nuanced story told from the perspective of one feisty, smart, lovable little girl. As a Southern Baptist who believed that all Catholics were bound for hell, I was delighted with the Catholic counterpoint of myself--Annie begins her story with the hope that people who recently died were Catholic so they could get into heaven. I loved this book, loved the protagonist, loved the crazy family Hicks has created. What a triumph for this first novel!

[Christine Fowler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Theory of Expanded Love by Caitlin Hicks

I enjoyed reading “A Theory of Expanded Love,” by Caitlin Hicks. I am not a reader, because it is hard to find books that paint a picture in my mind so I stay interested. It created an excitement that lead me to read it quickly and find out what happened to the characters in the next chapter. Annie is a girl like me, doing all she can to understand the who, what, when, where and why of life. I personally related in more ways than one because I am from a big family and no one I know, other than brothers or sisters, understands the dynamics of a large family. The writer knows how to create the bubble over my head of images that seem to appear as I read that made me laugh out loud as well as giggles and tears. My thoughts of the theory is that you really can love more than you think possible as you open your heart to love. There is room for everyone.

[Magdelanye · Rating 4 out of 5]

it wasn't that easy for me to enter the chaotic world of the Sheas, a rambunctious Catholic family with an authoritarian father and a mother who meekly succumbs to his tyranny. Annie, the 6th in line, will do anything for a bit of attention. My heart warmed to her as she struggles to make sense of the tumultuous events of the early 60's and the particular calamities of her family.
Annie's stretch to be a better person hurls her into ethical conundrums that she is determined to solve for herself.
Quite philosophical for someone who finds little confirmation for her theories and not much support within the narrow circle of her parents world circumscribed by dogma, Annie's enquiring mind will not allow her to quit her search for truth and justice.
these are my preliminary thoughts on just closing the final pages of this ultimately satisfying read.

[HeatherAnne Norbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up in a “bad” Catholic family in a very Catholic neighborhood. "Bad" because there were only two kids - ten years apart. My parents had even set out only to have two kids, only they had wanted two close together. I had other ideas and arrived ten years after my sister. Marie was born in 1961, and I was born in 1971, so we are both a bit behind the age and time of Annie, but many of her experiences rang true.

Annie is #6 out of thirteen children in a large, strict Catholic family. The author continues to number the kids for the first part of the book, which helps keep track of who is who. Her father is authoritarian, recently retired from the Navy, and her mother seems almost mentally absent from the kids for much of the book - or at least from Annie. Annie is portrayed as her father's favorite and her sister, Jeannie (#7), as her mother's.

Annie is twelve going on thirteen. As the veil of childhood is pulled back from Annie's eyes, she starts developing a critical, self-thinking view of the world. This doesn't go well with the strict Catholic upbringing her father is so much trying to inflict on his children. The father brags to everyone about his large family. He prides himself on being one of the best Catholic families at St. Andrews. Still, he also criticizes the kids that he was held back from promotions and doesn't have a life of luxury because of them. This is an emotionally and sometimes physically abusive man. But despite all his attempts at tight control, his kids are growing up and making their own choices. He betrays his children at many turns to preserve his reputation over what is best for his family. As Annie sees these betrayals, especially to her sister Clara and to Annie herself, her eyes are opened to the hypocrisy.

Abuse is a central theme in this book. There is emotional, physical, and mild sexual abuse ("The Hands"). There is only one very vivid scene when the father uses a leather belt on Annie's hand at the dinner table in front of the whole family. I tend to be sensitive about scenes of abuse in books, but I was not bothered by anything in this novel.

Anyone from a big Catholic family (or any big family) could commiserate and feel compassion for Annie and her plight. It also provides an interesting window into the life of a big family and a Catholic family for anyone from neither. While the main character is a 12-year-old girl, the ideal reading age is a little older than that. It didn't read as a middle-grade novel at all. Times have certainly changed since the 1960s, which is evident in this book. It makes the case for the world being a much better place today than in 1963, so I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone nostalgic about a bygone era. The author does not paint a rosy tale. It is an excellent Coming of Age story about Annie, and I really enjoyed it.

I received a complimentary copy of A Theory of Expanded Love in exchange for my honest review. All opinions shared are 100% my own.

[Inge Bremer-Trueman · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Caitlin Hicks coming-of-age debut novel, A Theory of Expanded Love, 12 year-old Annie Shea narrates her struggles, both spiritual and existential, in an increasingly mystifying world. Annie, smack in the middle of a horde of thirteen children, feels all but invisible inside her overwhelmingly pious, 1963 saint-obsessed Catholic family. The story, opening with the death of Pope John XXIII, and the subsequent short-listing of family friend, Cardinal Stefanucci as the possible future Pontiff, throws Annie into a frenzy of self-aggrandizing lying in an effort to elevate the status of her family within her close-knit community. Finally and deservedly the Shea family, even though they’re one offspring short, may have a chance to surpass the Feeneys for the highest rank of holy roller in their Pasadena Parish. Each chapter opens with an entry in Annie’s diary, placing the reader not only squarely inside her innermost musings and predicaments, but inside the tumultuous zeitgeist of the 60s as well. But along with her introspection comes its evil twin – guilt, and Annie is not immune. When she changes her mind about becoming a nun and Cardinal Stefanucci loses his bid at becoming the next Pope, Annie is convinced it’s all her fault because she hasn’t been truthful. The heavenly hierarchy, forever watching and judging, has seen through her scheming and lies. When her oldest sister is shipped off to a ‘retreat’ in the middle of the night, Annie’s world is turned upside down. And what about that old photograph of her mother with a different husband and what looks like a dead child in her arms?

Growing up in in a messy brood of devout Catholics in the 60s might not be an especially harmonious experience but it certainly makes for entertaining reading. Although I occasionally felt I might be losing the thread of the over-all story during Annie’s asides describing the chaos in which she lives, I nevertheless felt compelled to read on. In fact, I couldn’t put it down.
Will Annie break the bonds with which her strict religion (and father) shackle her? Will she kick her demons to the curb once and for all? Does Annie finally ‘get it’? I’m not telling ……..

[Yvette Fleming · Rating 4 out of 5]

A "Theory of Expanded Love" is a work of fiction and the author, Caitlin Hicks draws from her life’s experiences and her imagination for the creation of the characters and incidences portrayed in this book. The book is written in the first person from the perspective of a 12 year old girl named Annie.

The year is 1963. Annie comes of age and starts to question not only her family’s religious faith but also her parent’s authority. She struggles between her dreams coupled with visions of grandeur and her father’s wishes and expectations. Born the 6th child of 13, the family dynamics are sometimes uncomfortable and she finds herself caught in chaotic situations. This is heightened when she learns some unraveling news about family secrets that force her to challenge the family model. Life’s lesson of unfairness helps to fuel her questioning and reasoning. Annie is willful, feisty and sometimes disobedient but she has a good sense of family values. Each chapter begins with a snippet from her diary.

The historical events for 1963 are accurate and this story depicts the very essence of a big Catholic family’s way of life and their belief system during this period of time.

I relate to Annie’s toil in life as I had a similar catholic family upbringing.

I am disappointed the story ends at that point in her life because it leaves me wanting to know what the next chapter in Annie’s life is and so I await for the author’s follow up book. I find this book easy to read and the style and language gives it credibility. The story is enjoyable from beginning to end and all the while I love Annie for who she is. The ease in which the author is able to include so many characters without confusing the reader is a testament of her writing ability. The story flows seamlessly. It is in every way a true to life experience worth reading. I give this book a 4 out of 5.

[Julia Osborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received my copy of The Theory of Expanded Love in a mail a couple of days ago. I have finished reading it already, which says something. As I continued to read, the story became increasingly absorbing. How was the central character Annie going to resolve her increasingly large assortment of problems? Talk about climb every mountain …

For me, the author hit her stride in Part II. Easy to read, the story took a stronger shape as events unfolded and the use of parenthesis lessened. Some readers may find wearying the emphasis on the (Roman?) Catholic faith and its strict requirements for the faithful, as indeed it became more difficult for Annie who finally saw through the use of guilt and the underlying hypocrisy by some followers.

The strict background of the Catholic religion as it affected Annie and particularly her father, had to be laid out, but I felt Part I could be shorter and the story would have lost nothing.

The suspense in Part II is nicely drawn, and the reader becomes emotionally involved with Annie as she comes to grips not only with her family difficulties, but with Truth, and the perception of Truth in different levels of society and beliefs. Aside from Annie, who becomes older and wiser as she endeavours to overcome mounting problems, Caitlin Hicks has developed a solid assortment of characters from the unbending Daddy and the lovely developing portrait of Annie’s mother, down to Santiago the bus driver, nicely observed through Annie’s eyes.

The Theory of Expanded Love ends with fine resolution, a necessary expansion of love, and we see that stubborn people who refuse to change will carry on in their blinkered way, to their own loss.

[Sydney Avey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever wonder what it would be like to grow up in a large family? Caitlin Hicks captures the chaos and hardscrabble efforts of the thirteen Shea children to secure attention when needed and resist damaging assaults on privacy. And who better to tell the story than spunky 12-year-old Annie in the throes of puberty?

Annie suffers from rigid parenting, benign neglect, and a ritual-bound religious practice that defines the family. At the same time, she benefits from the give-and-take kind of love and life training she receives from her parents and siblings. A bossy little ball of outrage toward misguided authority, Annie displays a selfishness typical of children, but also compassion and empathy beyond her years for all but the nastiest of her siblings.

"A Theory of Expanded Love" addresses the pain of adolescence with humor. The story is affective, deeply moral, and life-affirming. For all their faults, Annie’s family and her church have equipped her to make courageous decisions. The world needs more people, like Annie, who call on those they love to be their better selves.

[Nancy Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Theory of Expanded Love resonated with me on so many levels. As a child of the sixties and a navy brat, so many of Annie’s anecdotes covered familiar territory, bringing back memories of bygone years. On the other hand, it was interesting to learn about Annie’s life in a large family and the perspective of a catholic upbringing, very different from my own. But what kept me looking forward to returning to the pages of Caitlin Hick’s book was Annie’s insights she shared with the reader about her journey as a young woman, shedding the perspective of her parents and finding her own voice in the world. I admired her for her fortitude to stand up to a domineering parent and live by what was true for her. Taking ownership of our lives is something we all face at one point and Annie set a fine example of independence. Hick’s voice was clear and lyrical; I very much enjoyed my time spent with Annie and her family. I hope Hick’s continues the story, shows us where Annie takes her life. I highly recommend this insightful, coming-of-age story.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Caitlin Hicks’ book: A Theory of Expanded Love, is exactly that—an exploration of how expansive our love can be and in how it changes our lives. It’s a coming of age story that is just as relevant today as in one’s youth, and deserves to be a best seller for the young reader. In fact, I wish I could have read this book in my teens; it would have answered a lot of questions. Like the main character, Annie, I was a curious child with the desire to unearth secrets and understand the why of rules—rules that didn't make sense to me. Furthermore, I broke the rules, got into trouble and discovered myself in the process, which Hicks explores so aptly in this large-family drama where conformity dominates and ensuing freedom unfolds. The ending is fabulous—it turns everything around and makes the story profoundly meaningful, giving credence to the far-reaching scope of unfettered love."

[Julia Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

My heart took a beautiful journey with Annie who tells her story of growing up in a large Catholic family. Annie repeatedly reveals the hypocrisies surrounding religion, faith, love, and human actions in her raw and honest story-telling. Annie is curious, hilarious, tender, and Naval Brass strong as she forges ahead to reconcile a confusing world – often contrasted by strict military and religious rules against the natural laws of the human heart. Annie’s story is familiar and we are reminded of important life lessons – and that love triumphs in the end!

[JoAnne Bennison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I'm probably not the most objective reviewer - I've loved Annie Shea since the very first day author Caitlin Hicks introduced the feisty 12-year-old to our writer's critique group. I've laughed and cried through every revision and re-incarnation and am truly in awe of what Caitlin has accomplished.
Funny and poignant, this unflinching take on growing up Catholic in a ramshackle oversized military family in 1963 Pasadena will have you laughing, gnashing your teeth and shouting "Huzzah!"
Anne of Green Gables take note! There's a new red head in town and her name is Annie Shea!

[Emma Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

* NOTE: I won this in a first-reads giveaway, however, this doesn't change my review* I love love love this book and I'm glad I won it because I wouldn't have thought to buy a book like this but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Jennifer Bort · Rating 5 out of 5]

As told to her diary, 1963 is tough year in the life of twelve-year-old Annie Shea, #6 of 13 siblings in her loud, messy, chaotic, but oh-so strict and strictly observant Catholic family. She knows her family stands out in all the wrong ways—perpetually late to mass, their yard a wreckage of bikes and shrieking children, and not even able to triumph as the largest family in the parish—but Annie herself feels invisible, except when she’s in trouble. She is desperate to stand out, to find some acclaim. She’s considering becoming the world’s youngest nun until she realizes that nuns are forever in the background while the priests get all the glory. “I want to be the center of the universe. I want to be Number 1, I want God to love me the most.” Precocious in many ways, she’s a complete naïf in others; she’s horrified when she starts to grasp the mechanics of reproduction. (“Dear Jesus, Is that what you really want? I’m speechless. The blood thing is totally impractical.”)

Raised to be unquestioningly obedient, she finds she has endless questions and few answers, especially when she discovers a picture of her mother in a wedding gown standing next to a man who is not her father, or when her eldest sister is mysteriously sent away on a “retreat”. Increasingly, she finds that doing what she knows is right puts her at odds with the rest of the family and locks her in a battle of wills with the Ultimate Authority—her father.

Caitlin Hicks’ debut novel is both hilarious and moving, thoroughly charming but shot through with serious themes that sneak in while you’re busy laughing. Her writing puts you in the middle of the fractious household, and you needn’t come from a large family to feel what it’s like to be part of the fray. What’s most impressive about Theory is how Hicks has so masterfully pulled off the delicate balance of Annie’s voice, which demands that Hicks maintain a mix of unselfconscious/very self-conscious, naïve, pre-teen self-narrative while still allowing Annie to make some pretty mature observations, and having the whole thing be believable. It works.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grabbed this book off the new arrival shelf and I really liked it. It took me a while to get into it and to finish it, but it was a deep kind of book to read. There is a lot to think about and process as one reads it. It's not a lazy afternoon read kind of book. It follows a 12 year old Catholic girl growing up in a very large, devout Catholic family. There is subtle humor, heavy themes, and heartbreaking realities in this book. Her older, wilder sister, named Clara, finds herself in a strange situation and is sent away. When Annie and another sister sneak off to see her, they find out why she is sent away. There are secrets to keep, horrors to learn, and betrayals to uncover. Annie is trying to get through all of this while at the same time coming to terms with what is happening to her body, mind and spirit. The author tells all of these things through the innocence of a 12 year old, coming of age voice who is just trying to do the right thing while questioning all the things she's been taught her whole life.

Some things I didn't love... I didn't love the way they portrayed couples who want to adopt babies, although I do understand it coming from Annie's perspective. If the author is being true to Annie's voice as the storyteller, then the couples wouldn't be seen in a very good light. I do think that the emotion and honesty of how hard these decisions and consequences are is important. I just felt, as an adoptive mom, that many times I wanted to be defensive. But as the reader, I wanted to root for these characters.

When a book, told so plainly and raw, makes you feel all the things that this book made me feel, all while making me smile at some points and wanting to cry at others it can't be anything but a really good book. I'm glad I read it. I think I'm better for it. It would make for a good book club discussion. I think there are probably a lot of people who wouldn't like the book. I liked it, so I gave it 4 stars because it affected me.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hidden within the context of America's volatile 1963-1964, A Theory of Expanded Love by Caitlin Hicks is the sort of novel I wish came my way much more often. Annie, the protagonist and narrator is a spunky 12 year old Catholic girl in 1960's California surviving her gigantic family of 13 kids, tired mother and military father. I think of Annie as a sort of American Anne of Green Gables mixed with The Catcher in the Rye, if Anne weren't a windswept orphan in PEI. Annie is spunky, doubtful, vigorous, hard working and alive. She is quintessential 'growing up' and her quest is both full of mundane and life-altering importance. Her family is vivid, overwhelming & intense. I wanted to re-read it the minute after putting it and my bookmark down. I can't find a single fault in this novel. It took me through the horror of forced adoption, misogyny and into the exhilaration of hitchhiking, kittens and the realizations of growing up.

I had to lock this book in my car, to stop from reading it at my work desk. Caitlin Hicks is a true and undoubted treasure, both as a performer and as an author. She brought this coming-of-age tale to true and vibrant life. I struggled and rejoiced with Annie, Madkap and Clara. I hated John-the-Blimp and the strict hypocrisy of 1960's catholic misogyny and the Shea family patriarch.

Every woman should read this book to feel that shared connection of the feminine experience, and every man should read this book to remind them of how far we've come and still need to go. Fantastic, Caitlin.

[Kate Vale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Until I had read nearly half of the book, I didn't understand the title, but by then its quirky main character, 12-year-old Annie, had captured my interest. Although I was familiar with being a Navy brat, her experience as one of 13 children was fascinating. And what happens to her and her sibs is both hilarious and scary as Annie begins to enter adolescence and adulthood.

Where, for example, has her older sister, Clara, gone? What is behind that so-called retreat, anyway? Whose hands visit her at night and what does it mean? What secrets is her mother harboring, secrets revealed in a lock of hair and a photo? How can Annie help Clara when what is happening to her is just plain wrong, at least in Annie's eyes and heart? Each question is posed and then skillfully answered within this coming-of-age story. A truly enjoyable ride.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

"She can’t help it that she’s the one the new baby sticks to, and not the dad." This line from "The Theory of Expanded Love" choked me up and continues to stick with me... it's a compelling statement by the character of Annie, calling out the age-old injustice of society focusing the shame of an accidental pregnancy solely on the teen mother, instead of the father. Kudos, Caitlin, on bringing attention to an issue which is sadly every bit as timely now as it was in the 60's, especially in the light of the recent attacks on Planned Parenthood.

[Suzy Naylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading Theory of Expanded Love and enjoyed it very much.  The writing and the story were engaging and I was hooked right from the start. I particularly enjoyed watching Annie as she took in the “received wisdom of the church” and filtered it through her own 12 year old wisdom. This process culminates in her taking the “Theory” of love and converting it into a real, embodied love that is experienced and shared by her family. A completely enjoyable and satisfying read.

[Anita Tally · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay - pleasant and light.

[Reader]

Review: Kennedy Girl and A Theory of Expanded Love by Caitlin Hicks

Other reviewers of Caitlin Hicks’ inspired novels have often burst into superlatives. I feel much the same way.

The two novels follow the transformation of Annie Shea from a gawky twelve year old, desperate to make her mark as # 6 in a Catholic family of thirteen children (fourteen by the novel’s end), into an unstoppable seventeen year old as Kennedy Girl, the sequel of A Theory of Expanded Love, opens in Pasadena California in 1968.

Kennedy Girl:
1968. What a year to be seventeen. Hair is opening on Broadway. Bobby Kennedy is campaigning to run for President on a social reform platform. Annie is cast in a musical revue of songs from Hair, directed by lecherous Father Sullivan and starring Lucas, a charismatic black dancer from a Catholic School in Watts. Annie’s older sister, the rebellious Madcap, is dating a Jew against her parents wishes. Annie’s older brothers are enlisting to fight in Vietnam with the enthusiastic support of their father, a former Commander in the US Navy. What can go wrong when Annie sneaks out of the house to join Madcap and Lucas in working on Bobby Kennedy’s campaign?

Kennedy Girl hits all the high points of that idealistic, troubled and iconoclastic year. Feminism, abuse of power, assasination, racism, war, loyalty and duty—these themes effortlessly unfold in the believable and inevitable unfolding of this story. No spoiler alerts here.

A Theory of Expanded Love:
This is the second edition of this book which was Caitlin Hicks’ debut novel. It won many awards when it was released in 2015. The most auspicious, to my mind, was its inclusion on Book Riot’s 100 Must Read Books About Women & Religion along with many of the world’s most famous novelists: A.S. Byatt, Margaret Atwood, Ann Patchett, Iris Murdoch, Barbara Kingsolver, Toni Morrison, Flannery O’Connor, Zora Neil Hurston, Arundhati Roy, Alice Hoffman…..

This charming book is much more than a pretty face. The author is also from a large Catholic family, as is her husband, renowned Canadian visual artist, Gordon Halloran. These two families provided the inspiration and background knowledge for two books which ring with the authenticity of lived experience. Twelve year old Annie Shea aches to be good, to be seen, to do what’s right rather than what’s proper. This book makes me remember my own twelve year old self and all the repressed and urgent passion, idealism and hesitancy of that age.

Caitlin Hicks has come to these novels following a distinguished career as a Canadian playwright, performer, and screen-writer. She has toured internationally in one woman monologue productions. Again, it is this lived experience which seasons the dialogue, diary entries, and self-examination of Annie.

I simply loved both books. Do yourself a favour, order both books at once and save on shipping.

Both books are also available as E-Books in both Kindle and Apple Books. A Theory of Expanded Love is available as an audio book from the author’s website: https://caitlinhicks.com/wordpress/

[Karen Gunning · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is unlike anything I have ever read before & the narrator, Annie, will stay with me for a long time.

I was unsure how I'd feel reading a book from the point of view of a child but I think Annie was perfectly aged (twelve going on thirteen) so that she still had that child-like innocence & naivety but is starting to become more aware of the world around her, especially that her parents aren't infallible.

Annie is such a sweet, often funny, character but this book has some serious depth. Anybody with awareness of the Catholic church will likely have some level of experience of some of the themes in this book but reading about it from Annies perspective felt new & fresh. At times it is an comfortable read but in the best way.

I have to keep reminding myself that Annie is a fictional character. But despite that I'm proud of her growth & development throughout this book.

Thanks to NetGalley & Sunbury Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful coming of age story where we discover the world of a headstrong, feisty pre-teen, Annie Shea, growing up in a large Catholic family. Annie questions everything, from the church to family values to the pivotal events that rocked the USA in the sixties. It’s a rollicking ride that is funny and deep, probing and ethical, heartwarming and heartbreaking. Annie is a character to remember.